“I am pleased that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta is examining the issue of public disclosure of malpractice or poor practice. A more transparent and open public posting process of physician misconduct must be established to allow their patients and all Albertans to assess quality of care.”

Criminal convictions are not currently displayed on Alberta Profiles of physicians.

Several Alberta licensed physicians faced disciplinary action in other jurisdictions, but their misconduct record wasn’t publicly posted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. This must be reviewed.

Records for disciplinary actions against physicians that occurred in Alberta, no matter how severe, are scrubbed after 5 years but are kept public indefinitely in Ontario and New Brunswick.

Swann stated, “We should carefully examine the Ontario model and other examples of best practice in public disclosure while protecting legitimate privacy rights of practitioners.”

Doctors from other jurisdictions are required to voluntarily report any issues when applying for an Alberta License from another jurisdictions but the Alberta College does not verify these and a national database of convictions and significant disciplinary actions should also be developed.